Flashlight Worthy: hand-picked book recommendations

I recently came across a site called Flashlight Worthy which solicits book recommendations from its users and posts what it considers the best lists.

Peter Steinberg answered some questions about the site:

Why did you start Flashlight Worthy?

I started Flashlight Worthy Book Recommendations because finding quick, concise online book recommendations was hard.

Amazon reviews are massively long. Google is too robotic, and while I love book bloggers, it’s hard to find one who shares your reading tastes. And if you do, they usually don’t read much faster than you do so you don’t have a whole lot of choice in what they recommend.

So I came up with Flashlight Worthy. A site full of carefully curated book recommendations. And “curated” is an important detail. I actually don’t believe in this being democratic. If it was, then every book list of the would be dominated by Twilight, Lord of the Rings, and Ayn Rand. Oh, and speaking of book lists, that’s another key element. The book recommendations are gathered into themed lists — 313 book lists so far.

How did you start the site?

On a budget. Seriously though, it’s an evenings-and-weekends kind of thing for me and a good friend — Eric Mueller. He does most the technical stuff. I do most the rest. Fortunately we started the site at a point in time when it’s become possible for 2 guys to string together a lot of different tools and get a site off the ground without all sorts of major investment.

How is it going so far?

It’s had it’s ups and downs but things are getting better. We’ve been blown away at how many people have been eager to submit lists to us — it’s really quite flattering. And we love the variety of people who land on our doorstep. The biggest problem? Keeping up with all the great books we hear about. Our “to-read” lists are long enough to last a lifetime.

Why do you link to Amazon instead of independent book sellers?

I wish I could use IndieBound instead of Amazon, but it would mean a 33% drop in income — minimum. More like 60% considering all the non-book items people buy.

When questioned on this (and I need to add this to an FAQ on my site) I say buy all your books from IndieBound, your local indie store in person or get them from your local library. If you like the lists I publish, then buy everything ELSE Amazon sells — DVDs, shoes, shampoo, sneakers, iPods, toys, etc — via my site.

How can readers and writers and bloggers get involved?

Despite a ton of praise from readers, Google’s taken a long time to warm up to the site. It turns out that we could really, really use some links from people’s blogrolls. If there are any book-loving bloggers reading this, take pity on a poor, starving book lover and toss his site a link?

We also love getting book lists from people. We don’t publish every list we get so get in touch first to discuss your ideas. Do note that we don’t allow authors to put their own books on a book list but we do have a number of links on your byline, list introduction and bio — so there’s plenty of room for us to link to your blog or your book on Amazon.

What types of lists do you prefer?

Indeed, we don’t publish every list we receive. That said, if you work with us to shape your list from the beginning it will almost certainly go live.

What types of lists do we prefer? There’s no one formula.

We love lists that are timely like this list of the Best Books of 2009 (that all happen to be excellent books for book clubs)… or lists that focus on the best of one author like this list of E.B. White’s Best Books… or lists that are heartfelt, like this list of the Best Children’s Books for Adults.

We also love lists that have a fun theme like this list of Zombie Books or these Chick Lit Books from before Chick Lit Was Invented.

And the lists don’t have to be fiction. This list of books on Alzheimers Disease from our collection of Lists of Books on Health was really eye-opening for me. I love lists that show deep, deep expertise like this lists of The Best Books on Lincoln. Or lists that are helpful in a time of need like these Books on Pet Loss — I just got my first dog and somewhat elderly so I’m so grateful to know these books are out there.

In looking to give advice on how to write a great list I looked back across all 300+ lists and realized that the best ones have one thing in common. They’re not full of book reviews. We’re not looking for book reviews — there are many, many other sources of book reviews. So if they’re not book reviews, what are they? They’re personal. The list author says how they related to the book. How it made them felt. Why they like it so much. “How” and “why” — not “what”.

How authors use Flashlight Worthy to get more exposure for their books?

Two ways. One, you could send us your book. Honestly though? We do NOT recommend that. We only have time to read about 5% of what’s sent to us. And even after we read it, we don’t always have a book list in which to include it.

The second way is much better — write a book list. We’ve had a quarter of a million pass through our site in the last year and we have 73,000 followers on Twitter. Our book lists get a lot of attention.

The book list has more authority when it relates in some manner to the book you’re promoting, but anything you can discuss passionately is acceptable. While we can’t accept a list that includes the author’s own book on the list, the introduction, byline and bio can all include links to the book on Amazon or whatever destination you like. A few examples of such links are on this list of Books for People Dealing with Illness or this list of Novels about WASPs.

For those interested in working with us, drop me a line at info@flashlightworthy.com.

What are YOU reading right now?

I just finished George Plimpton’s “Paper Lion” — a memoir of his spending a Summer training with the Detroit Lions. I also just finished The Brothers Lionheart — an amazing children’s book from the author of Pippi Longstocking. Next up? Maybe Cheerful Money by the New Yorker writer, Tad Friend. He’s a neighbor and friend of mine so I’m looking forward to it. Or maybe A Solider of the Great War by Halprin — I’ve been meaning to tackle that for years.

You can visit Flashlight Worthy at: http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/